Developing the Research Question:
From Interest to Science
Samuel R. Mathews, PhD.
The University of West Florida
Pensacola, Florida, USA and
Visiting Professor
Tallinn Pedagogical University
Tallinn, Estonia

– Personal experiences
• Family
• Personal educational history
• Friends
• Local, regional, national events
– Professional experiences
• As a teacher
• As a school leader
• With colleagues, school leaders, others
• As part of a community

• Professional reading
– Professional journals
– Texts for classes
– Ministry reports
• Institutional interest
– School policy statements, mission, vision
– Ministry priorities, official positions
– Parliamentary legislation

• Regardless of the source, the topic is best served when you have an interest in it and it reflects something of your values, passions, or professional goals;
• When the source of the idea is based on a very close personal theme, a personal bias could cloud the ability to approach the topic scientifically

• Intuition —it just seems so; all my feelings point to the answer;
• Faith/belief —based on my values and my firm commitment to a set of principles it is so;
• Authority —this or that person is a powerful person and so, the views must be correct;

• Common sense—
– all my personal experiences lead me to a conclusion; my experiences are varied and extensive, my conclusions must be correct;
• Rational method—
– based on logic emerging from “self-evident” truths; proof for “self-evident” truths is not required
• These “ways of knowing” are all valuable to our everyday lives but, our profession demands more;

• Science —systematic inquiry into natural phenomenon;
• Goals of a Scientific Inquiry
• Describing
• Predicting
• Understanding/Explaining
• Applying

• Definition—list and elaborate the key attributes of the phenomenon under study;
What are the main attributes of the phenomenon we are studying?
• Differentiation--set some phenomenon apart from others; How is the phenomenon we are studying different from other related ones?

• Recording, measuring, or counting examples of the phenomenon; How do I know when the phenomenon occurred?
• Relationships between the phenomenon of interest and other, related phenomena;
How is the phenomenon I am studying related to other phenomena?

• Forecasting —estimating with some degree of certainty outcomes at a future time on some measure of performance at an earlier time;
• Hypothesizing —given a set of conditions based on a theory, some specific change in a particpant's behavior might be predicted;

• Most difficult of the goals of science to achieve;
• The aim is to establish that changes in one factor or set of factors causes change in participant's performance on some task ;
• This is a major part of building or testing a theory ;

• Criteria for Establishing Causal
Relationships :
– When there is a change in one factor, there is a change in the second factor (covariation)
– The change in the factor associated with the cause always precedes a change in the factor associated with the effect (precedence)
– The factor (or factors) claimed to be the cause must be the most likely and alternative explanations must be eliminated;

Applying Results of Scientific Inquiry
• Scientific inquiry provides a strong and powerful base from which to develop new approaches and evaluate existing practices;
• Questions that arise from individuals in the field of psychology frequently address:
– Impact of new approaches to prevention or intervention
– Evaluation of existing practices;
– Theory testing or theory building;

Characteristics of Scientific Inquiry
• Empirical —data are based on observable evidence
• Public —rationale, procedures and methods, analyses, results, and interpretations are subjected to public evaluation
• Tentative —considers alternative interpretations and conclusions and reflects opposing viewpoints;

• Non-trivial--the importance of the question with regard to theory, informing practice, or resolving contradictions in a field is clearly established;
• Based in existing literature —researcher links premises underlying research question or problem statement with empirical and theoretical literature.

Research Questions and Problem
Statements
• Specify key constructs or concepts to be addressed
• Specify key relationships among constructs or concept
• Reflect an empirical approach to the problem

• Reflect a plausible and non-trivial scope of investigation given the existing knowledge on the themes
• Reflect a plausible scope of investigation given resources of the investigator

• Constructs reflect theoretical entities
(hypothetical construct) that may not be directly observed (e.g. personality, cognition, self efficacy, self esteem)
• Constructs within research question are based on empirical and theoretical literature

• Relationships among constructs are based on findings within empirical studies and theoretical positions
• Relationships among constructs are based on sound and internally consistent logical arguments

• Constructs specified within the research question can be translated into some observable indicator
• Indicators are derived from existing empirical literature and include tests, interview questions, observation checklists, or other means of gathering data through the senses.

Reflect a Plausible and Non-trivial
Scope of Investigation
• The scope of the question is sufficient to be interesting to relevant individuals
• The scope makes sense given previous studies
• The results and interpretations emerging from the study provide new and useful insights into the problem being studied

• Potential participants are available and accessible to the researcher
• Assessment and measurement strategies are within the skills and resources of the researcher

• The data analysis procedures are consistent with the researcher’s resources
• The time available to the researcher is sufficient for conducting the study and writing the report